


soulmark anomalies

by Inalandofmythandtimeofmagic



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: M/M, Multi, Soulmate AU, collage AU, mostly fulff, tiny amounts of angst, vaugeish anxiety attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-10 18:59:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11132799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inalandofmythandtimeofmagic/pseuds/Inalandofmythandtimeofmagic
Summary: Thanks for reading! if you have something to say you know where it goes ;) also come find me on tumblr @ inalandofmythandtimeofmagic





	soulmark anomalies

Anxiety lay next to his sleeping boyfriend in the grass outside their apartment, staring at their entwined hands happily. He could see the mark on the inside of Roman’s left forearm, the one that matched the mark on Anxiety’s right arm, the one that meant they were soulmates. The thought did not make him smile as much as it had a few weeks ago. In fact a small frown was tugging at his lips. 

He loved Roman, he really really loved him. With Roman he was happier than he had ever been, and yet. Somehow, despite his love, despite the destinies written on their arms, his thoughts had...strayed. An easy grin and terrible puns had begun to occupy his thoughts. Brown eyes that were always open and honest.

Patton, that was his name. A senior in his outdoor cooking elective, who shared his distaste for written exams. Easily excitable Patton, who laughed brightly and spoke softly, unlike Roman whose voice was bold and sometimes verging on demanding. 

Guilt twisted in his stomach, here he was laying with his boyfriend, his SOULMATE, and thinking of another man. He was the worst person on the planet, and he stared down at his own mark. Was it possible it was a mistake? Did he get the wrong mark?

No, he loved Roman with all his heart, and he knew Roman loved him. But what if there was someone out there who was even better for Roman? Someone who was meant to have the mark he carried on his arm. 

Anxiety angrily swiped at the tears building at the corner of his eyes, guilt making him sick to his stomach. He wanted to be inside, where he could curl into his blankets in the dark and become a pitiful ball of self loathing. He did not want, nor deserve, to lay here in the sun with a beautiful man who loved him, and feel the breeze and listen to the birds. 

He let his head thump against the ground and stared at the sky, beginning to list in his head all of the things he loved about Roman. It was a long list, and in some ways it did relax him, but soon thoughts of Patton slipped between thoughts of Roman. Mental images of the face Roman made after he did something he thought was particularly dashing were replaced by images of the face Patton made after telling a Dad joke. He thought about Roaman’s hearty laugh but was distracted by the memory of Patton’s excited giggle. 

The alarm went off on his phone, reminding him that it was time to go to outdoor cooking, which was an evening class. He sighed, pressing a kiss to Roman’s forehead to wake him up.

“I’ve got to go, I’ll see you later babe.” Roman stretched unhappily, slowly sitting up. 

“Do you have to go?”

“I could skip, but it’s cobbler night and I’m not missing that deliciousness.” 

“Fine, but you better bring some home.” He pretended to pout, giving him one more kiss before he left. 

 

Anxiety knew he was in trouble as soon as he reached the park where the class was held. Patton looked amazing in a green flannel and his hair was sticking up funnily from running his fingers through it over and over. Something Anxiety knew he only did when he was stressed and/or thinking hard. 

“How did your test go?” He asked with a smirk. Patton looked at him surprised.

“How did you know?” Anxiety just pointed to his hair, “Oh, I think it was okay, not great but okay.” He chuckled, attempting to flatten his hair. Without thinking about it Anxiety reached up to fix it, letting his fingers slip easily through the locks. It took him a minute to realize Patton was staring at him, Anxiety froze as the others gazed flicked from his eyes to his lips. It took him another minute to find the willpower to step back. 

Patton recovered first, “Should we get started?” he asked, stepping over to the makeshift fire pit where he already had some coals built up. They worked together easily, Patton’s infectious smile making him forget everything else. 

Their cobbler turned out perfect, getting high marks from the teacher, and they lingered over it long after everyone else had cleaned up and left. The sun had set as they ate and talked, the first few stars were beginning to show when Patton spilled cobbler onto his shirt.

“Fudge-cicles!” He swore, or as close to swearing as Patton ever got. Anxiety had to hide a fond smile as Patton stripped down to a white tee shirt. However his stomach dropped out of him when he caught a glimpses of the mark inside of Patton’s right forearm. His hand shot out of its own accord, fingers wrapping around his wrist and pulling it closer. 

“Anxiety?” Patton questioned, raising an eyebrow at him. Anxiety felt horrified, like everything he knew about the world had been wrong. Slowly he pushed up the sleeve of his hoodie, revealing the identical mark on his own arm. 

Patton’s face light up, pure joy radiating from it. With a pang Anxiety was reminded of how Roman had looked when he first showed him the mark, of how he himself had felt. He felt an echo of that joy now, but it was overshadowed by confusion, fear, guilt. Patton fit his hand over his jaw, leaned in to kiss him, and Anxiety very nearly let him. 

“I don’t understand?” Patton said, his excitement dimming. 

“I have a boyfriend.” 

“But we’re soulmates.” 

“He is my soulmate, we have the same mark.” 

They stared at each other, Anxiety’s eyes filling with tears as he watched heartbreak replace the confusion on Patton’s face. He hated it, he couldn’t remember feeling worse. He wanted to rip out his own heart, he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him rather than see such hurt on the face of the man he loved. 

And he did love Patton, there was no denying it anymore. He loved him and longed for his touch, felt the pull of their future together. Yet, could he even imagine ever leaving Roman? The thought made him physically ill, made panic curl in his chest. As his thoughts continue to swirl, spiral out of control, Patton just gazed at him in mournful confusion.

“I don’t understand,” he says again, now a hoarse whisper. 

“Me neither,” Anxiety shook is head, hot tears splattering his cheeks. It was becoming hard to breath, he was feeling to many things at once. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman lay on his stomach on the living room carpet, trying to make himself focus on the notes spread out around him. He rubbed at his temples, trying to stave off the inevitable headache this class always gave him. He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone pounded on the door, getting up quickly. 

An incredibly attractive boy stood on his front step, looking terrified, one arm wrapped around Anxiety’s waist who was obviously just coming off an attack. Roman stepped forward immediately and took his boyfriend from the stranger. 

“Anx, baby, what happened?” Anxiety clung to him and shook his head, Roman knew it would be awhile before he was talking again. He took Anxiety into the bedroom and lay with him, stroking his hair until he was asleep. 

Carefully he slipped from the bed, closing the door behind himself quietly before turning to face the stranger who had perched himself awkwardly on the end of the couch. 

“Roman,” he smiled and extended a hand. 

“Patton,” The other with far less assurance.   
“Ah, from the cooking class?”

“Um, yeah? How did you…has Anxiety told you about me?” 

“He has spoken highly of you, he doesn’t make friends easily.” He said coming to sit down next to Patton, wincing internally. Was that something he should have kept to himself? Anxiety was always getting after him for having ‘no filter.’ Patton seemed a bit overwhelmed and Roman took the opportunity to change the subject. “ So Patton, can you tell me what happened tonight?”

“Is my fault, I guess.” Patton said as if unsure, he bit his lip and Roman found himself briefly distracted by it. 

“Anything can trigger an attack, sometimes nothing triggers it, it just happens. I am sure it wasn’t your fault, and you seem to have been able to calm him, i’m impressed.” Roman clapped him on the shoulder, needing to touch him. The guilt shadowed by the warmth in his chest. 

“May I see your mark?” It took him a moment to process what Patton had asked him, but slowly he held his arm out. Patton gently held his wrist with one hand, the other slowly traced his mark. Patton’s fingertips burned, gooseflesh raced up his arm. The only other time he’d felt this was with Anxiety, he didn’t understand what was happening. He looked up and met Patton’s eye, full of wonder and confusion. He was biting his lip again, and god, all Roman wanted to do was kiss him. Wordlessly Patton held out his own arm for Roman to examine. 

“This is what upset Anxiety.” He said so lowly, so broken that Roman could only stare at him for a moment longer. When he finally looked down he gasped. There, plain as day, was his soul mark. The one he had spent his whole life staring at, the one he had later found on Anxiety’s arm. 

“What does it mean?” He asked quietly, still shocked. He gently ran his fingertips over the mark, watching as Patton’s eye fluttered closed for a moment. 

“I don't know I have never heard of anything like this.” Patton’s head had dropped back a little and Roman realized it was because his fingers were still tracing the mark. Embarrassed and a little guilty he quickly pulled back, reaching instead for his laptop. He did a quick search and unsurprisingly found nothing. Patton moved closer to him to be able to read over his shoulder. 

Eventually they found an ad, someone on campus was writing a thesis on soul mark anomalies. 

“Should we message him?” Roman asked turning to look at Patton, startled by how close he was. Patton just nodded and sent him a happy smile, it was the first one Roman had seen and in made his heart stop a moment. He quickly typed out a message, briefly explaining the situation, the response was almost immediate. Roman chuckled at the dry enthusiasm, engrossed enough in the conversation that he nearly missed Anxiety walking into the room. 

Patton, however, noticed immediately. He jumped up and pulled Anxiety into a hug. Roman watched Anxiety’s face carefully, his eyes were wide with surprise but he seemed okay, returning the hug after a moment. 

“Are you okay?” Anxiety just nodded against his shoulder before moving to sit net to Roman on the couch, curling into his side. 

“You didn’t sleep very long.” He said wrapping one arm around him and pressing a kiss into his hair. Anxiety just shrugged, eyes watching Patton as he sat cross legged on the floor in front of them with a bright smile. 

“Roman has found someone on campus who may be able to tell us what's going on.” He babbled brightly.

“At least we hope he will,” Roman said. 

“Ya, his name is Logan and he is studying soul mark anomalies, which is really cool. I never would have even considered that as a field of study, which is a shame because it’s probably really interesting. I wonder what other sort of odd things he has come across?” 

Roman couldn’t help but grin at him, and when he glanced to his side he saw that Anxiety was also smiling fondly at him. It sent a warm sort of feeling through his chest and erased any lingering guilt he might have felt earlier. 

His attention was directed back to his laptop by the sound of an incoming message. 

“Logan wants to know if we have time to meet with him tomorrow?” he announced. Patton clapped his hands together in excitement, but he could feel Anxiety stiffen slightly beside him.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he just wants to interview us, ask us a few questions.” He gave Anxiety a reassuring squeeze around the shoulders. Patton beamed at them and held his hand out to Anxiety, who paused only a second before entwining their fingers together. 

The sight made his heart do a little flip-flop, of the happy variety. Which was utterly puzzling. Shouldn’t he be jealous? Shouldn’t the sight of his soul mate holding hands with another man upset him? 

“Logan wants to meet mid-morning if that works for us?”

“Tomorrow is saturday, I don’t have anything going on.” 

He turned to look at Anxiety, who simply nodded his head. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patton crossed the parking lot excitedly, yesterday had been a roller coaster, but he couldn't help but feel optimistic. His pace picked up his when he spotted them, Anxiety in his trade mark black hoodie was gripping Roman’s hand, eyes scanning the parking lot nervously. Roman, however looked perfectly at ease and damn good in a red letterman's jacket. His heart swelled in fondness for the two. It made some sense, Anxiety was his friend. He barely knew Roman, but he was good looking and obviously took good care of Anxiety and that was reason enough to like him. Surely that was all, right? 

His steps faltered slightly as he brushed his own soul mark. Was it a mistake? Was he a mistake? Destined to be alone? He shook his head and pulled a smile into place. What a silly thing to think, he was sure there was a simple explanation. All they had to do was talk to Logan. 

“Hi-ya” ha waved to his companions, trying to ignore the way Anxiety’s face brightened at the sight of him, or the way Roman’s eyes swept over him. He tried to ignore the butterflies in his gut, and the need to reach out and touch them, to slide fingers through hair and lock hands. Instead he turned and walked into the building with then, keeping a respectable distance. 

They walked into an empty lab, occupied by a boy who was bent over a desk scribbling furiously in a note book. His hair was dark, sweeping over his for head and making his skin seem pale. 

“Damn. He's hot.” Patton said, not quite realizing he had spoken until Roman echoed the sentiment. 

“Shit.” Anxiety hissed in agreement. 

“Oh hello,” Logan said crossing the room to shake their hands. After quick introductions he invited them to sit at one of the tables and flipped to a notebook page covered in questions. 

“Okay, so Roman, how long have you and Anxiety been dating?” 

“Um about six months.”

“Okay. And do you love him?” Patton watched Roman’s eyebrows lift in surprise but he quickly answered affirmatively.

“Alright, and Anxiety you love Roman?”

“Of course I do!”

“And how do you feel about Patton?” 

“Pah-Patton?” Anxiety stuttered, starting to flush. If Patton was being honest there was a blush creeping up his own cheeks.

“Please, Anxiety, for the sake of science I am going to need total honesty.”

“Well I,” Anxiety glanced at his boyfriend, Roman just smiled at him and reached out to squeeze his hand. Then Roman’s gaze slipped over Anxiety’s head to meet Patton’s. His grin grew warmer and he bit his lip before looking back at Logan. Patton’s face grew even hotter.

“Anxiety?” Logan prompted.

“I, I love him.” he mumbled to his chest. Patton couldn't help a small intake of breath as he stared at the boy in disbelief. Anxiety was staring at his hands, guilty tears filling his eyes. 

“Do you know what?” Roman asked, Anxiety leaned away from him, but Roman just wrapped an arm around him. “I think I'm falling for him to.”

“You are?” Patton felt floored, were he in a cartoon his heart would surely be beating out of his chest. In his peripheral he could see Logan writing furiously, the sight causing a slightly hysterical giggle to escape him. Roman reached a hand out to him, linking their fingers together behind Anxiety. 

“When you saw Patton’s mark did it fill similar to when you saw each others?” 

“Yes, it felt exactly the same.”

“Interesting. May I see them.”

They each held their arms out, Patton and Anxiety extending their right arms, Roman his left. Logan froze, he was actually frozen. Unblinking, pen hovering over the page. 

“What is it?” Roman asked in concern. He reached out and gently took Logan’s hand to get his attention, something Patton had wanted to do since walking into the room. 

“Its nothing , nothing.” Logan said but his hand came up to cover Roman’s.

“Something is bothering you kiddo, what is it?” Patton said. 

Logan was hesitant but he held out his left arm, and there, on his forearm was the mark Patton had spent his whole life starring at. The one he had dreamed of finding on someone else. Now he sat in a room with three other men, could it be that they were all destined to be together? 

~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Polyamory.”

“What?” Roman asked him, an adorably confused expression on his face. Logan looked down at their hands.

“Its rare, but not unheard of.” 

“You mean I have three true loves?!?” Patton fanned himself, face turning red from grinning so hard.

“Breath,” Anxiety told him, laughing slightly. Patton turned wondering eyes towards him. Then he laughed, and he kissed him. Then he kissed Roman, and turned to face Logan.

Logan shook his head a little, “I’ve never, I mean I don’t” he lost his words as Patton slipped a hand over his jaw. 

“May I?” Logan swallowed, then nodded. Patton fit his lips over his, Logan felt as though his heart would burst as gooseflesh raced over him. 

“So, can I take y'all out to dinner?” Patton asked with a grin. Laughter bounced around the room, and Logan was sure he’d never tire of the sound. 

 

It only took them a few weeks to settle into a routine. To move in together, invest in a California king bed. To fall madly, deeply in love in ways he never could have imagined before. It was still very odd to him, having spent most of his life alone. Endless nights bent over a book turned into nights with Roman trying to make himself to study next to him, of Anxiety leaving little treats for him on his desk, or Patton forcing him to bed at two in the morning. 

Actual, home cooked food replaced microwave burritos and cups of ramen. The best part of all, the most shocking part, was with all the constant love he was surrounded with, that was directed at him, slowly but surely he learned to love himself. Bit by bit he learned that he was more than a brain, more than a perfect grade. He learned that he was worth more than his accomplishments alone. 

He learned other things he had never known before. He learned the press of fingers on skin, as they slid up his spine. He learned the sweetness of Roman’s tongue and the way Anxiety’s face softened when someone kissed his neck. He learned that Patton was an octopus, constantly seeking physical attention from the others, he learned how wild Patton would get if you tugged on his hair just a little. 

And for the first time in his life he was happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! if you have something to say you know where it goes ;) also come find me on tumblr @ inalandofmythandtimeofmagic


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